vog

I don't know if it looks poor, but it does depend on the reserves. Widman signing leaves us with 6.61 for the final 2. If those two are, say Danny Phillips and Matt Williamson, then the team looks better, because the top 3 will score well, and the other 4 can improve. If however, we have 2 untried riders who struggle, the team will struggle.

Chris WIdman to Stoke. 3.50.

So, Chris Widman completes the top 5. Interesting, but it does worry me. Not sure he has ridden in the main body of a team before? Should have the benefit of riding with Ben Wilson, which could well help him though!

I was lucky enough to watch Liam develop at Stoke in 2012, and then see him ride for Buxton in 2013. The lad came on leaps and bounds, and while his gating wasn't always the best, he always gave everything. Personally, I think if he get's a 3.5 it will have been a fantastic season for him, because he wasn't always beating the top guys in the NL last season, but he will improve through the year, and will thrive at Berwick because of his style. Good luck to the lad!

And surely, if it helps James to resurrect his career, and his signing draws a few more in at Buxton, where is the harm? He has obvious experience that would be useful to any young rider, and he would be a good team member. I'm not sure why there is this belief that the NL should be for the sole purpose of training new riders. It has to be competitive, or it will fall flat. Having someone like James (Or indeed, Ben Wilson, or Adam Roynon when he was in the league) gives the riders coming through a gauge of where they are. You want to be able to beat the best in your own league, and if that is James Wright, then that makes the job a bit trickier, but it gives you an aim! I think it's academic, as I don't think James would ride NL, but even so, there is always a role for a rider like him in the NL.

James Wright is an interesting one, but I don't know if he would do NL. Smart has apparently signed for Plymouth. Branford would be a good shout if he is riding over here this year.

If they have signed all 6 (Not doubting, but obviously waiting until official) then that could be interesting. Smart isn't the rider he once was, and Reade is coming off a nasty injury last season. They would need a number 1 (Maybe Tim Webster?) but I guess for Plymouth the idea is to develop for their PL team!

Darn. Ah well. Still, I expect Buxton to put out a solid team, that will do alright at home. I'm assuming they sorted the air fence?

Enjoyed my trips to Buxton at the back end of last season. Unfortunately, I won't be there as often this season, but I hope they get a competitive team! I wouldn't be surprised if they lined up something like 1) Charles Wright 10.37 2) Liam Carr 6.87 3) Lee Smart 5.76 4) Gareth Isherwood 4.57 5) Luke Priest 4.75 6) Ryan Blacklock 4.43 7) Adam Extance 3 Riders who have a history with Buxton, so obviously don't mind the pay structure there, and would do a good job around Buxton.

Mimmo, please don't misunderstand, there are a lot of people who gave a lot of time and effort to help Stoke, and who were disappointed in the drop to the NL, but living within our financial means isn't the issue anymore. The unsavory things that are said are, in the whole, fully deserved. There are countless tales of fans being abused by the custodians of Stoke Speedway, and many fans have had enough. I was on the receiving end of a Tattum outburst a few seasons ago, and there are many others besides myself (I had the gall to tell the barmaid on Friday that Rusty Harrison hadn't ridden that night, and I wondered if he would ride the next day against Stoke) There are serious problems at Stoke, that go far beyond the team. We have a promotion that is so far removed from the fans, it is very much a case of paying your money and shutting up, or going to support someone else (Yes, that threat has been mentioned by our promotion as well) Stoke fans have taken a lot of abuse from the people in charge, and for years they put up with it because the racing was pretty good. The drop to the NL was the final straw for many, and you only need to look at the crowds now to know that they seem pretty unsustainable without the stock car involvement. They need new blood, but they will never sell (One half was asked how much they wanted for their half and they laughed it off. On another occasion they mentioned a 6 figure sum) and until they go, there will be a large proportion of the fan base who will refuse to go. To sum it up, the stark reality is two fold. 1) The promotion (And others) have never, in the 80 year history of Stoke, won a 7 man trophy. 2) The current promotion have lost the trust and respect of the vast majority of the current fans, be it through lack of interaction with the fan base, broken promises, failed customer service or just down right poor people skills. With the current owners, Stoke Speedway will continue in its slow decline. EDIT: On a team note, welcome Ben Wilson. Interesting that it leaves us with so few points for the bottom end, especially considering this will mean a couple of 4 pointers in the main body to start.

Stoke fans don't have much good to say about him either...

Interesting. Armstrong has never been my favourite rider after he spat his dummy many years ago riding for the Spitfires, and he had a down season last season, possibly down to a knee injury? Either way, if the passion is still there, the experience will come in handy. More interestingly in the press release, they said that they anticipated him riding at 5, which means there will be a higher averaged number 1? Given a 40 point limit, I'm guessing this means we won't be seeing Ben Reade back this year? Realistically, I think we will be looking at something like 1) New number 1 - 9.5 2) Lee Payne 4.90 3) Ben Hopwood 6.89 4) Luke Priest 4.75 5) Armstrong 7.93 6) 3 pointer 7) 3 pointer And in that, a lot would be riding on the 3 pointers and Priest/Payne!

Not really Hopwoods biggest fan, but good luck to him.

Stoke have many problems, and frankly they will never get sorted. All that we can hope for is that somehow we get a team capable of challenging, but I highly doubt it. I know Malcolm hates losing, but you get the feeling his hands are often tied. Crowds get lower season on season, with more and more people not going back due to the custodians and the hangers on. I'm finding it hard to get motivated for next season, especially having moved away from Stoke. I fear my visits will be less often than usual.

I don't think you can compare putting 50 past Stoke to facing Dudley. They are stronger from 1-7. Much stronger. I was at least accurate with my Kent score prediction! Just didn't expect us to do as well with the TR usage!

Stoke won't hit 40. 53-39 to Kent.

It depends what you mean by most improved. If you mean purely on average, then Starke would come in behind Rob Lambert and Adam Ellis, both of whom started on 3 and are currently 10+. However, we had no real way of gauging their improvement as it is their first season. Starke has been around for a few years, and always had the ability as long as he had the machinery. Lewis Kerr has been the bigger shock for me, given that he looked alright last season, but has done fantastically well this season. Charles Wright has hit a real purple patch, and Liam Carr has put 3 points on his average. Even someone like Josh Bates has put a large chunk on his average, but people don't mention him.

Unfortunately the injuries appear to have taken their toll on Lee, who wasn't the rider who thrilled the Stoke fans in 2010. While he can still ride a bike, it often looked like he was going through the motions, and if he didn't make the gate, he didn't appear to want to take the risks he took before his injuries. A shame, but we move on. Good luck to him in the future, and he will always be held in high regards by Stoke fans for his PL performances for us.

As things stand, we have Buxton in the league next Saturday, then no league meeting for 2 weeks, when our averages are due to drop by around 4 points. If we are going to make changes, surely this is the time to make them. Ben Reade is out for the season according to the press release, so we will have a couple of ways we could go. Lee is scoring, just not as a number 1 should be.

If memory serves he wasn't at the meeting. Bronze helmet is run poorly IMO as it should be defended every meeting, against the top scorer, after heat 15. Why only defend it once a month? Ridiculous

Alas, we haven't been able to have a supporters club since the promotion shut it down. They also don't like us collecting for individual riders.

Blew 2 engines last week, managed to cobble one together for tonight, and it broke.

Shambolic from Stoke. The promotion needs to sell up and fast, because they are dragging stoke to its grave

Not a chance. Stoke are a terrible team away from home, and had been further handicapped by the loss of Lee Payne. Dudley or IoW would have scored around the same at home, but done much better at Kings Lynn. KL are an average side now that Lewis Rose has moved up, who become a very good side with Lambert in the team.

Well it is accurate in a riding sense. He was riding exclusively on the continent, and he has come over to this league. I would argue in that sense, it is perfectly accurate. As for the PL/EL argument, it was being discussed for next season, with the knowledge that he can't ride in higher leagues until he hits 16. Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if Robert happened to only do home meetings all season, which would be an absolute travesty. When I heard he had been declared in the KL team, I was really looking forward to seeing him at Stoke, the fact that he wasn't there and no explanation given for that doesn't sit right with me.